1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to linear, branched, and/or cross-linked acyl coupled polymers of quinone-coupled polyphenylene oxides which comprise di- and tri-functional acyl radicals coupled with polyphenoxy radicals, said polyphenoxy radicals being derived from quinone-coupled polyphenylene oxides having an average hydroxyl group per polymer molecule value greater than zero including 2.0 or less, and mixtures thereof.
In my copending U.S. application Ser. No. 800,635 new polyphenylene oxide-quinone coupled polymers having an average hydroxyl group per molecule value greater than zero including 2.0 or less are described. These new polymers either alone or in combination with polyphenylene oxide reaction products of the prior art, i.e., polyphenylene oxides having an average hydroxyl group per molecule value greater than zero including 1.0 or less, or combinations thereof can be coupled with acyl halides to form new linear, branched, and/or cross-linked polyphenylene oxide polymers. The polymers prepared as described herein having hydroxyl groups associated with any phenoxy group of the acyl coupled polymers can be coupled and/or capped as described in Loucks et al.'s related U.S. application Ser. Nos. 800,645 or 800,648, filed on May 26, 1977 to further enhance their molecular weight and/or color stability, respectively.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Self-condensation reactions of certain phenols employing oxygen in combination with an effective oxidative coupling catalyst system to form prior art polyphenylene oxides, i.e., polyphenylene oxides having an average hydroxyl group per molecule of 1.0 or less, are described in various U.S. patent applications including Hay's U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,306,879, 3,914,266, application Ser. No. 540,473, filed Jan. 13, 1975, now U.S. Pat. No. 4,028,341, a continuation-in-part of Ser. No. 441,295, filed Feb. 11, 1974, now abandoned, and Olander's, U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,956,442; 3,965,069; 3,972,851 and Ser. No. 582,910, filed June 2, 1975, now U.S. Pat. No. 4,054,553.
Coupled polymers of prior art polyphenylene oxides employing simple bifunctional coupling compounds such as diacyl halides, diisocyanates, bis(haloaryl)sulfones, etc., are described in my U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,793,564; 3,770,850, 3,809,729; and 3,875,256.